The Big Picture

When I was first introduced to present moment awareness, I thought “this is hard”. In educating myself about my own mind I realized that in many ways my mind has always controlled my life. My habits and judgments and the past have always lead the way. In the beginning I realized if I could just direct my attention away from the stream of thought and disconnect once a day it would be more than I had been doing my whole life. As I began to bring my attention away from the thought stream and into the present moment I discovered a new way of living.

The intention behind developing a calm abiding practice is to develop a non-reactive and non-judgmental orientation to the present moment. Most of our suffering and stress in life comes from us personalizing our experience and continually reacting to life in a way that is purely predicated by our past conditioning. When we are only identified with our thinking this is the only way we know how to answer to life on a daily basis—we know no better.

I always remind students that this practice is a moment to moment commitment. It is important that you see the big picture of developing a mindfulness practice. The big picture is that our ability to evolve and cultivate our inner wisdom is not just for personal reasons. As we elevate ourselves above the bondages of habitual ways of living that cause suffering and pain in our lives, we begin to affect those around us. People begin noticing that we are different and less reactive. It is our presence and example that begins to inspire others.

I truly believe that each human being is here in this life to show what is possible within a human life. Now you may think I am being cliché yet I ask you to cultivate these questions. Why are you here? What is your life all about? When you die what are people going to say about you? If you spend time contemplating these questions and come back to them often enough you will begin to notice one of two things—confirmation or unease. I will handle this in my next entry.

Discovering Your Vision

Focusing your eyesight during a yoga practice is called drishti in Sanskrit. Drishti is a point of focus. Each yoga posture has a designated gazing point. Focusing your eyes during a yoga practice is the first step in a three tier process which synchronizes your mind and body. The word drishti is derived from the Sanskrit root rish meaning vision or insight.

Your mind tends to identify with whatever it looks at. When our minds are busy we don’t have an opportunity to see clearly. If your eyes are wandering your mind is wandering. In ancient India the Rishis were visionaries who lived amongst the tribes. They were able to give wise advice about decisions that had to be made for the welfare of the tribe. Similar to the stories you hear about the Native American Indians seeking insight from their elders.

It is typical for the beginner yoga student to look around the room, move quicker than the teacher, anticipate the next posture and of course we can’t forget the good old fashion fidget. These are all simple signs of being identified with thinking verses being. The mind is leaning into the next moment and focused on thoughts instead of the body. Remember your body is always in the present moment—it is our minds that get caught up in the past and lean into the future.

I remember in the beginning of my practice I would spend a lot of time looking around trying to figure out how to do postures correctly. We encourage new students do to this in the beginning of their practice. It helps them gain an understanding. As you gain a deeper understanding of the alignment and the process of synchronizing the mind and body, a student gains confidence and begins discovering the power of a stable vision.

This is paradoxical. By narrowing your vision and bringing your attention to a one pointed focus you begin to gain a larger perspective within your life and the lives of those around you. The consistent practice of synchronizing the mind and body leads to a calmer state of being outside of the asana or meditation practice—within this state something very special and revolutionary happens. You begin seeing your thoughts from a third party perspective. Your thinking slows down and something much vaster than thought shows itself. I will handle this in my next entry

Self Discipline

Building on the literal meaning of discipline, self discipline is the ability to work with the instructions that come in and out of your head on a daily basis. It is learning to discern which thoughts create peace and happiness and which ones create stress and suffering. Paying attention to your relationship with your thoughts and how you react to them is the foundation of developing self discipline.

Discipline can be a difficult word for most of us. It conjures up images of somebody standing over you with a stick, telling you to do something or else. I find that if we view discipline as an external force that is confining or restricting we will never develop discipline. Viewing discipline as something that comes from within, hence self discipline, can lead to the cultivation of wisdom and a true feeling of freedom and stability within your life.

When you are trying to change a behavior or create a new pattern—paying attention is the critical component. For instance let’s use the example of creating a consistent exercise program. You have a time scheduled when you are going to exercise. As you get closer to the time you are supposed to exercise pay attention to any thoughts that start to sabotage your intentions. As you start to see the thoughts begin to label them as sabotage and then return to the present moment before you begin reacting to them. Taking a deep breath in and exhaling fully can help you develop a relationship with the present moment. This relationship will help you let go of self sabotaging thoughts. The thoughts will slowly lose their power as you learn not to identify with them and return to the present moment—you are pruning your brain!

The first time you see the thought you may get excited because you have never fully seen that the thought holds you back from what you want. I promise you the second time you see the thought you will also notice that they now have supporting thoughts. This is the wiring's way of pulling in other wires in the hope of not being pruned. If you stay present and pay attention without reacting the thoughts will leave within no time. Each time you watch the thoughts and don’t react to them they lose their power—you are now on your way to developing new wiring within your brain.
The process of developing self discipline is some of the most challenging work you will ever do. It is also some of the most rewarding. It is only hard if we stop breathing through it. If we keep returning to the breath we will develop self discipline and wiring that supports our deepest intentions.

Discipline

The word discipline in its most general sense refers to systematic instruction given to a disciple. The Latin root disciplina "instruction", from the root discere "to learn," The origin is the master giving instructions to the disciple. Further elaborating the disciple follows instructions eventually creating a habit around the instructions. The disciple has created a discipline through repetition.

I will often hear people say that they don’t have the discipline to exercise or practice yoga frequently enough—this often bums me out. I see that it is something that bothers them enough that they verbalize it to me. If they are speaking outwardly it is probably a thought that dominates their mind throughout the day—a thought which probably brings a fair about of self loathing and suffering into their life—a real confidence crusher.

The science of neuroplasticity refers to the malleable nature of our brains and minds. Neuroplasticity (variously referred to brain re-mapping) refers to the changes that occur in the organization of the brain as a result of our experience. Decades ago neuroscientists thought the brain was relatively fixed around age two. We now know the brain can change and rewire up into old age. Wiring in the brain can also disappear if we no longer think a certain thought. We have the ability to prune our brain like we would the weeds in our garden.

When you begin to understand this science it is the beginning of true freedom within your life. You realize the way you think is nothing more then programming. The programming happens by the way you think, speak and act. Your direct experience is what is continually wiring your brain. For instance you start to notice the same thoughts that create excuses why you can’t exercise. You see the thought for what it is—just a thought. Next blog I will address working with thought.

Calmness

During an Empowered yoga practice we implement a three-tier approach to synchronizing the mind and body—steadying the eyes in one spot, attention to respiration, and the awareness of the body. As you move from posture to posture the focus is on what is happening right now. You narrow your vision, deepen your breath and then drop into your body. A sense of calmness comes over you and you are now in the present moment—the zone. You are not there too long before you lose your attention and your focus shifts over to a thought. A thought leads into another thought and in essence you have left the room. Your body is there yet your mind is off somewhere else—daydreaming or strategizing your next move in life.

At some point you realize you are daydreaming and not present. You then label your experience by saying to yourself, “thinking” and then return back to an inhale. Once again you are back in the zone. Inevitably you will lose your focus and become preoccupied by thinking. You will catch yourself once again and label it thinking and return to the breath. This process of catching yourself lost in thought, labeling it and then returning back to the breath is the foundation for developing a yoga practice.

In the Pāli language this technique is called Samatha meditation often translated as calm abiding. Due to the speed at which our world is moving many of us are living in a perpetual state of anxiety and agitation. We are not sleeping enough, not using our bodies enough, thinking a lot, eating processed foods that create stress on our digestive systems, thus affecting the other eleven systems within the mind and body. The strange thing is that most of us are unaware of this. It is not until we sit still with no stimulus or entertainment that we can begin to feel what is driving our lives.

As we learn to make a commitment to a practice of calm abiding we can begin to have a shift in our lives perspective. Cultivating calmness creates clarity, and clarity leads to wisdom. Wisdom is becoming our experience of what we learn within the space that is created when we become calm and present. At first this might not mean sitting still in meditation. You can start off with driving without the radio on. You can walk or run without the iPod. The options are endless for creating calmness within your life.

Search for ways that you can create calmness throughout your day and notice how good you feel when you are calm. It is from this place that you can clearly start to navigate your life in the direction that promotes peace and happiness.

Face to Face

This past weekend, I participated in the Shambhala Level One Sacred Warrior training at our Empowered Yoga Wilmington location. During discussion on Sunday, one participant wanted to know why we were not made aware of the schedule beyond when to arrive and depart. He was directly referring to the amount of time we spent in meditation on Saturday. 

He said it would have been nice to know the schedule so he could have planned and prepared. I could not help but laugh with him because I was watching my mind numerous times as it kept asking “When is this going to be over?” The hilarious part of this all is that sitting in mediation, you are just working on relaxing and doing nothing—sounds easy right? Most of us have no idea how fast our minds are moving until we sit down and do nothing. No music, no TV, no cell phone, nothing. We begin making excuses as to why meditation is not for us. We rationalize how our minds are different than other people’s minds. It is our mind’s way of strategizing right out of what it is most afraid off—stillness. 

Once we sit still and see our speedy minds we come face to face with our lives. It scares the heck out of us. We spend most of our adult life staying busy and strategizing our next move in life. Once we sit still, that perfectly oiled strategizing machine starts to strategize when we are going to get up and start moving again. As you sit longer, the strategizing loses its power and you start to drop in. Having more experience in mediation than he, I was aware of the process we were going through. It is much like a runner who has to break through the wall in order to get to the runners high. There is a build up of pressure within the mind and then finally it lets go. The feeling you are left with at the end of the process is……..well beyond words. Something you have to experience. 

It is at this point that you begin to understand why we are called human beings and not human doings. Now I am no expert or master in meditation yet it is my experience that this process is an integral aspect of human life. Learning to come face to face with your life—what is it that makes us want to stay busy? Are there things we are avoiding—truths that we simply cannot face? Or is it just that our ambitious nature has taken us so far away from being human that we have lost the true essence of happiness which is beyond material possessions and accomplishment? There is a true joy that one can cultivate in learning to be still and realizing that this moment is enough – that we are alive and that this precious life is fleeting day by day. 

When we come face to face with our minds; this is where you can begin to make friends with yourself. Getting in touch with our lives through mediation is truly one of the greatest acts we can do for those around us and the world. Getting in touch with our lives and the direction our lives are moving can help us refocus and become aware of our ability to steer our lives in certain directions that are going to reduce suffering and increase happiness and joy. For me this is truly part of being empowered.

Where is your attention?

Just the other day a friend asked me how I was doing—I replied great! She said, really? I said yes really. I just finished giving two of my children a bath and I have a wonderful wife and a great life. She said what about business? I said business is the most challenging it has ever been, but I don’t think anyone in business is saying things are great. She said doesn’t that bring you down? If I let myself focus on what is wrong in my life I will not be so great—I am careful as to where I focus my attention.

In the practice of Hatha Yoga you are cultivating the ability to be still and pay attention to your internal environment. When you cultivate concentration and the ability to be still for prolonged periods of time, something really special happens—you begin seeing the fluxing nature of reality. Thoughts come in and thoughts go out—the breath comes in and the breath goes out. You begin developing a relationship with the awareness that is able to see the flux. You no longer get dragged around by ups and downs of life yet instead see the impermanent nature to all of it.

Pause throughout the day and notice how much your moods, thoughts, and attitude shift. The more often you see this truth the more space you will bring between your awareness and your mental and emotional states. You will cultivate the ability to discern and redirect your attention. Over time the awareness will grow. Now keep in mind this is a life practice —an integral part of being empowered.